The mother and Neal

The narrator’s mother

The narrator’s mother is a secondary character in Alice Munro’s short story “Gravel.”

Outer characterisation

The mother is described as “good-looking and young enough to be mistaken for an actress” (p. 88, ll. 9-10). She organized fund-raisings for the theater and volunteered as an usher (p. 88, ll. 8-9).

Before leaving her husband, she wore makeup (p. 88, ll. 11-12), high heeled shoes (p. 88, l. 38), silk nightdresses, a diamond ring, and her wedding ring (p. 89, ll. 1-2). Once she starts volunteering at the theater, she adopts a more liberating style, letting her hair wild (p. 88, l. 11) and dressing with “shawls and long skirts and dangling necklaces” (p. 88, ll. 10-11).

Inner characterisation

The narrator’s mother is a woman who seeks fulfillment. While she lives with her husband, she leads a luxurious lifestyle, living in a big house with expensive decorations. She was most likely a housewife, since she tended the garden and the house (p. 88, ll. 36-37), and had more free time than her husband (p. 88, ll. 6-7). She does not have a car (p. 89, l. 30), which possibly m...